It would never occur to me that drinking alcohol was not allowed while house sitting. Certainly not when house sitting for people who drink themselves. If the homeowner has some religious or similar objection to alcohol I get that it could be disrespectful to bring it into their house, but obviously that’s not the case.
Note: that does not mean that inviting a bunch of friends over to drink the day away is cool. Or that drinking so much that you can’t tend to the dog is cool.
I tell my kids to go ahead and eat perishables, such as milk or things like Hunt’s bagged salad, when house-sitting because it’s not going to keep if they’re gone a long time. But the older one, whose gigs are sometimes three weeks long, will make sure they have milk and eggs and bread when they return so that that’s one less thing to worry about for the homeowners.
When we leave on trips that are longer than a weekend, we give away all our perishables before we leave so we don’t come home to a fridge of spoiled food. Ages ago when I babysat, they would often leave a caserole or something for me as the babysitter. I’d have a small portion of it and then clean up after myself, washing everything and leaving the sink clean.
We have never had a housesitter, so don’t have personal experience with anyone staying in our home while we were away. I guess I’d be specific if I wanted them to eat or drink something and not eat or drink other things. When we were on our very long (5 week) honeymoon, one of H’s friends had us stay in their home for the week we planned to be in Washington DC, and told us that they stocked the fridge FOR US, including buying us a bottle of champagne in the fridge and the housekeeper would be coming to tidy up while we were staying at their home. They insisted on having us return our rental car and drive the W to the airport, where she’d be flying (as a flight attendant). We never did drink the champagne (tho we would have but we’re really not drinkers). We were very touched by their thoughtfulness, but that’s a whole different scenario. That is probably one of the few scenarios I’d feel comfortable drinking alcohol in someone else’s fridge. Otherwise, even if I’m a 21 year old, I would just buy my own beverages.
It’s more about one’s level of discretion and appropriate situational context.
If part of one’s housesitting job includes taking care of a pet…especially one requiring a higher degree of care, drinking alcohol…especially several bottles of beer over the weekend and having friends over doing the same shows an appalling poor sense of prioritization of one’s job and judgment. Especially when it can serve as a major distraction from the main reason for his being there and possibly placing the homeowner in a dicey legal situation.
Personally, I’d save drinking the alcoholic beverages for after the housesitting is done and I am “off the job”. Especially if it involves drinking several bottles of beer as was the case here.
You’re free to choose not to drink at all when house sitting. If you are having someone house sit for you and you want them to do the same, I highly suggest stating that explicitly. Not everyone would assume that having a drink or two is unacceptable. As I stated, large quantities and/or a group of friends coming over are not what I’m talking about.
I do not equate drinking while house sitting to drinking on the job. After all, I assume house sitters sleep and sleeping at one’s desk is generally frowned upon.
@Youdon’tsay , tell your son to sleep in the bed, for Pete’s sake! I’d prefer a house sitter do that rather than sleep and possibly sweat all over the couch. And if I said “Sleep in this bed” I’m going to assume he did and wash the sheets anyway. So not sleeping there is not saving me any work.
Am I the only one here that enjoyed drinking at 21? I would have loved the opportunity to have a house to myself to booze it up. And, I might have invited just a couple over, even contrary to instructions. Now at 50-something I have much more respect, character, and integrity. At 21, I would figured it would be no harm and no one would find out. Gee, does anyone here, now, ever drive 66 in a 65 mph zone? Are we all so perfect now no one breaks a rule, and can’t even grasp the idea that someone at 21 might do so?
Could it be I am the only one that remembers being that way? Or will admit to it? I don’t condone 70 beers, nor sitter’s inviting others over against specific instructions. But I am taken aback by the Op’s apparent surprise that that housesitter wanted to booze it up, and had the gall to drink beers he was invited to drink(yes, sarcasm).
The points I hope I get across most, in my posts in this thread are two-fold. First, I wouldn’t think it wrong to drink beers I was invited to drink, and second- why in the world does an adult find it surprising a 21 yr old in a home alone drank a bunch of beer? Have we forgotten the lesson of the tortoise and the scorpion?
I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard the lesson of the tortoise and the scorpion … care to share?
Drinking several bottles of beer over the course of a weekend should present no impediment to caring properly for the dog and the house. The problem here was that he invited friends over, and they consumed about 70 beers over the course of the weekend. Which means that either they got pretty wasted, or he had a WHOLE LOT of people over, either of which would be completely unacceptable.
will be happy to relay the story by pm, but prefer not to burden this thread with it.
[Quote=wikipedia]
A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, they would both drown. Considering this, the frog agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. **When the frog asks the scorpion why, the scorpion replies that it was in its nature to do so.
SInce Madison has posted the story I referred to,
The lesson teaches sometimes people do the wrong thing, even against their own best interest(scorpion) . It also teaches that knowing sometimes others will do this, we must open our eyes and be careful about what we trust/believe(turtle).
I do not think that fable is applicable here. Truly a stretch.
Beer is not the OP’s main issue - it is one of the factors that, taken together, create a picture of a very irresponsible young man: the party, the possibility that the dog was ignored, the strangers lounging in the master bed (to put it mildly), the lost key, etc. OP wanted to know how any of us would have handled the situation. I think talking to the parents makes sense, because this man is clearly not mature enough to be considered an “adult.”
It is the surprise of the Op that a 21 yr old sitter, invited to drink beer, actually chose to drink the beer. And if one adds surprise that a person at 21 wasn’t as responsible as someone 50, well that could be in keeping with the “eyes closed” part of the fable.
Now some of this thread is turning to the fable itself, and that is what I had hoped to have the courtesy to avoid.
There are plenty of very responsible 21 yr olds who might drink the beer yet keep the house in order. Personally, I have met more responsible ones than not, so for me such behavior would be very surprising. Maybe your experience with 21 yr olds was different.
Yes, I confess. It does surprise me that someone would drink more than a beer or two. Because that’s more than enough to quench thirst or accompany a meal. You don’t go downing 10 cans of soda a day - so if you’re downing all those beers it means you are drinking to get drunk or you have a problem.
This particular 21 yr old did, in fact, drink the beer yet kept the house in order, I read that.
yes, very different. My experience is enough that I know a 21 yr old might drink beer he was invited to drink. I also know some 21 yr olds would invite a few guests over even if instructed not to do so, just as some at any age might drive 66 in a 65 mph zone…
Pizzagirl, It should not surprise you a person might drink more than 1 or 2 beers. Drinks with alcohol are not only to quench one’s thirst. Surely you have heard of DUI laws? These laws are created because some drink more than 2 beers then drive(or other hooch). The need for these laws in every state demonstrate that some drink more than 2 beers. Generally speaking, those who only drink 1 beer are within DUI limits, therefore the laws are needed for those that drink more. It might shock you, but some drink much more than 2 beers.
On the “what’s okay to eat/drink” I thought I’d add my 2 cents. To me it’s kind of like my kids…you don’t necessarily have to ask before you eat something but you shouldn’t finish something someone else will undoubtedly want (like eating the whole bag of potato chips) OR put it back with only 3 chips in the bag. I expect them to eat reasonably. As I define it.
“This particular 21 yr old did, in fact, drink the beer yet kept the house in order, I read that.”
Partying, leaving traces of -ahem - activity in master bed, losing the key, disconnecting the A/V system, possibly cleaning up the dog’s accidents (not taking the dog out) is indeed “in order.” Maybe by your definition, but definitely not by many other posters’. 
The whole master bedroom thing was related in a separate story about house sitting, not specific to the OP’s, correct??